The first real blast of winter for eastern Newfoundland is here with heavy snow and blizzard conditions.

Snowfall began last night with 36 cm recorded at YYT as of 6:30 this morning.

Schools in the metro area are closed for the day. Provincial government offices and several businesses, including the Avalon Mall, are closed for the morning.

Due to the inclement weather, schools in the St. John’s Metro Region will be closed for today, Monday, February 10, 2025. Status updates can be checked on our website. https://t.co/c4ZlLJlOln pic.twitter.com/Ina4ljJd0b

— NLSchools (@NLSchoolsCA) February 10, 2025

Metrobus and GoBus are not operating this morning, with an update on afternoon/evening services being provided at noon.

Several flights at St. John’s International are significantly delayed or cancelled.

While the bulk of the snowfall is in the rearview, blizzard conditions are expected to continue throughout the morning, with gusts expected to ramp up over 90 km/h.

Environment Canada meteorologist Rodney Barney says conditions will begin to improve over the lunch hour to make way for the clean-up.

Snowfall for the southern Avalon will ease off first, then conditions will begin to improve for the northeast around noon. Any travel throughout the area tis afternoon and evening may still be tricky as winds gust to about 70 km/h will whip the fresh snowfall around.

Listen to the full interview with Rodney Barney with Your VOCM Mornings.

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Meanwhile, St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen says plows are out in full force working to clear city roadways.

Once the main arterials have been cleared, crews will get to work tackling the side streets.

Breen says it’ll take a while to get it all cleaned up.

He says the city standard is to have all streets cleared within 24 hours of snowfall amounting up to 25 cm. It may take it a bit longer for crews to clear all streets as the current snowfall has surpassed that amount, add to that blowing snow making snow clearing efforts more of a challenge

Not everyone has the option of hunkering down at home during the blizzard, and the RCMP is providing some tips for those who must be out on the roads.

RCMP Sergeant Bobby Foreman says it is important for people to give themselves enough time and distance to come to a complete stop in case they lose traction on the slippery roads.

While Foreman advises against passing other vehicles in stormy conditions, if someone does decide to pass, they need to think about possible effects on that other driver.

He says the driver doing the passing needs to make sure there is enough distance when they are re-entering the lane that they don’t obstruct the view of the other driver, noting that the kick-up of snow can really obscure the vision of other drivers.

Foreman says some drivers might feel overwhelmed if they have a lineup of traffic behind them. The best thing to do in those situations is to pull over onto the shoulder or onto an exit.

He says he has seen people pulling over on curves in the road and blind turns, which is not the safest option, and people should avoid that if they can.

A full list of cancellations and delays can be found on the VOCM Storm Watch page.